State Ex Rel. Juv. Dept. v. LV

182 P.3d 866, 219 Or. App. 207
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedApril 9, 2008
Docket2006807581, A136556
StatusPublished

This text of 182 P.3d 866 (State Ex Rel. Juv. Dept. v. LV) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Ex Rel. Juv. Dept. v. LV, 182 P.3d 866, 219 Or. App. 207 (Or. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

182 P.3d 866 (2008)
219 Or. App. 207

In the Matter of A.V., a Minor Child.
STATE ex rel. JUVENILE DEPARTMENT OF MULTNOMAH COUNTY, Respondent,
v.
L.V., Appellant.

2006807581, A136556.

Court of Appeals of Oregon.

Argued and Submitted January 15, 2008.
Decided April 9, 2008.

*867 James A. Palmer, Eugene, argued the cause and filed the brief for appellant.

Richard Wasserman waived appearance for respondent Juvenile Department of Multnomah County.

Julie G. Sutton filed the brief for respondent A.V.

Before ARMSTRONG, Presiding Judge, and ROSENBLUM, Judge, and CARSON, Senior Judge.

ROSENBLUM, J.

In this dependency case, father appeals a judgment entered after a permanency hearing. The juvenile court found that the Department of Human Services (DHS) had made reasonable efforts to make it possible for father to care for his two-year-old daughter, A, but it concluded that father had not yet made sufficient progress and declined to order placement with father or to order a family-decision meeting to implement transition of A to father's care. Father assigns error to the court's failure to so order and to its designation of a concurrent plan of guardianship. We review the record de novo, ORS 419A.200(6)(b), and we reverse the judgment of the juvenile court in part and remand the case for further proceedings.

Both parents were minors when A was born in February 2005. In April 2006, when A was a little over one year old, DHS filed a dependency petition on her behalf. That petition alleged that mother's "mental health problems interfere with her ability to parent and protect [A]," that mother "has an anger control problem," that mother "has a history of residential instability," and that mother "has been the perpetrator of domestic violence, some of which has taken place in front of the child." The petition alleged that father, who had been named by mother as A's biological parent but whose legal paternity had not yet been established, was "presently unable to provide a home or care for the child." The court conducted a shelter care hearing the day the petition was filed and placed A in the care of her maternal great-grandmother.[1] At some point, mother was detained, and she remained in the custody of the Oregon Youth Authority at Hillcrest Youth Correctional Facility at the time of the permanency judgment at issue in this case.

In May, father was served with a summons to appear at an adjudication hearing on the petition. Before the adjudication hearing, DHS filed an amended petition replacing the previous allegation against father with the allegations that he "lack[ed] a parental relationship with the child and need[ed] the services of the Court and the Department of Human Services in order to be a custodial resource," and that he "[wa]s aware of [] mother's mental health problems and ha[d] not taken adequate steps in order to protect the child."

At the adjudication hearing in June 2006, the court took jurisdiction over A based on mother's stipulations that mother "has a history of mental health problems [that] interfere with her ability to parent and protect [A]" and that she "has a history of criminal activity and problems with anger control that have resulted in acts of domestic violence, some of which ha[ve] taken place in front of [A]." The court made no findings with respect to the allegations against father, but it instructed him to start filiation proceedings. The court continued the hearing for several months to allow father to pursue paternity testing. See ORS 419B.305 (adjudication hearing may be continued upon written order supported by factual findings of good cause).

*868 At the continuation of the adjudication hearing in September 2006, father admitted to the allegations of the amended petition. The court entered a judgment of jurisdiction that identified the permanent plan as "return to parent" and the concurrent plan as "adoption." See ORS 419B.343(2)(b) (requiring DHS to include a "concurrent permanent plan" in its case plan in the event that a ward cannot be returned to his or her parent, except when the plan is something other than reunification).

Following that hearing, A's maternal great-grandmother filed a motion to intervene on the basis of her caregiver relationship with A. See ORS 419B.116. DHS objected to her intervention, contending that "[p]etitioner seeks intervention because she wants custody of the child," which DHS believed would have a negative effect on case planning and would not be in A's best interests. The court granted intervenor's motion after the parties stipulated to certain conditions of intervenor's participation.

Father's legal paternity had still not been established when the court held a review hearing in November 2006. At that hearing, the court found that father "wishes to parent," but "not enough information [was] available to assess" his ability to do so, particularly considering that his legal paternity had still not been established.

Following the review hearing, DHS moved for genetic testing, explaining that mother had repeatedly named father as A's biological father, that father had complied with all the requirements of DHS's paternity testing program, and that mother had refused to cooperate with the testing. DHS requested that the court order a "motherless draw" of genetic material from A and father to establish paternity, and the court granted the motion.

Genetic testing was performed on the day of the next review hearing in February 2007. At that hearing, the court found that father had completed parenting classes, was in school, had the support of his family, and was beginning to form a relationship with A, who was then two years old. The court set a permanency hearing for April 2007.

The results of the genetic testing confirmed that father is A's biological parent, and DHS moved to establish his legal paternity under ORS 419B.395 and ORS 109.258. The court entered a general judgment establishing father's paternity a few days before the permanency hearing.

At the permanency hearing in April 2007, DHS proposed that the permanent case plan be to place A with father. Father noted that he had attended every parenting class, had successfully completed all his assignments, and had received excellent comments from the parenting class instructor. A's attorney expressed concern about father's commitment to parenting A independently of father's mother, but she noted that she "definitely saw more of a commitment from him than I had been feeling previously." Mother requested that the court order a psychological evaluation for father because "there is something going on here that is concerning," but offered no further explanation.

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Bluebook (online)
182 P.3d 866, 219 Or. App. 207, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-juv-dept-v-lv-orctapp-2008.